Well, here’s some lovely news emerging from the new Iraq.
17.09 Chemical weapons produced at the Al Muthanna facility, which Isis today seized, are believed to have included mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and VX.
Here is the CIA’s file on the complex.
Stockpiles of chemical munitions are still stored there. The most dangerous ones have been declared to the UN and are sealed in bunkers.
Although declared, the bunkers contents have yet to be confirmed.
These areas of the compound pose a hazard to civilians and potential blackmarketers.
Numerous bunkers, including eleven cruciform shaped bunkers were exploited. Some of the bunkers were empty. Some of the bunkers contained large quantitiesof unfilled chemical munitions, conventional munitions, one-ton shipping containers, old disabled production equipment (presumed disabled under UNSCOM supervision), and other hazardous industrial chemicals.
17.05 The Chemical Weapons Convention, which Iraq joined in 2009, requires it to dispose of the material at Al Muthanna, even though it was declared unusable and “does not pose a significant security risk”
However, the UK goverment has acknowledgeded that the nature of the material contained in the two bunkers would make the destruction process difficult and technically challenging.
I’m sure the terrorists can find some diabolical use, even for “unusable” chemical weapons.
ISIS also reportedly is flying its flag over a key Iraqi oil refinery.
President Obama delivered a bloodless statement on the situation today. He declared that the US would not be sending any troops into combat, but would send 300 “advisers” to help train the Iraqi army.
The US military spent a decade training the Iraqi military, with far more than 300 advisers. The training doesn’t seem to have stuck.
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